Of Terrestrial Souls
by TheManyFacesofJester
Summary: Pythagoras, alongside fellow paleontologist Jason and ex-teacher Hercules, are invited to a mysterious island where extinction is an issue of the past. Here Pythagoras has his doubts about the ethics of the island, but his concerns are ignored, except by the handsome game warden Icarus. Still, his fears are put to the test when a Raptor escapes from containment. Jurassic Park AU
1. A Thought Is An Idea In Transit

The plane jolted and rattled as Pythagoras attempted to finish organizing his research on the tiny table before him. Books and papers labeled with dinosaur related titles shifted and slid up and down as the ride got significantly more turbulent. The captain's voice over the intercom woke his sleeping companions.

"We're about to start landing, so please fasten your seat beats." In the movies people in private jets didn't have to wear seatbelts, but Pythagoras couldn't complain. Things don't happen in real life like they do in films, and he could live with that.

"Hercules. Hercules! You have to put on your seatbelt!" Pythagoras scolded as his clicked into place.

"What are they gonna do? Throw me off the plane?" The older man said sarcastically as he lay back down to get some more sleep. Pythagoras shared a look with Jason, his other companion for the journey, as they both settled in for the landing. Pythagoras and Hercules had known each other for years, back when he was Professor Hercules, Pythagoras' archeology teacher at university. Their friendship was slow, but they were forced to grow fond of each other as the years past and Pythagoras continued ending up with classes which had Hercules as the teacher. They stayed close even after Py graduated and Hercules retired. Jason was more a new friend, but one who was going to stay. He was a Paleontologist, like Pythagoras, but also a Marine Biologist. When Py started working for the Museum Jason was giving lectures on his findings from the bottom of the sea, and the two became the closest of friends, then the golden trio after Jason and Hercules met.

The three all shared common interests, with dinosaurs and ancient history, yet the one rift between Py and the others was experience. Before being a professor Hercules travel to Egypt to study at dig sites. Jason had been on dozens of trips, from the land to the sea in search of answers. But Pythagoras had never left the confines of his precious museum, with its safety and its predictability. Except for now. He stared wistfully out the window, watching the island appear through the clouds as they descended, wondering what to expect. Ms. Pasiphae's letter hadn't been very clear. It mentioned dinosaurs and a special visit to an island that would greatly enhance their research, but nothing about what kind of dig this was going to be, or if it was even on at all.

The island didn't look like a dig site usually did. It looked highly civilized, with lots of buildings among the forest of trees from what could be seen out the window. There were large gates and giant signs that said words that could not be read from such a distance. Maybe a national park? Pythagoras mused as he attempted to piece together what he was seeing.

The plane hit the surface harder than expected, causing Hercules to take a tumble of the sofa he had been so comfortable on. Jason laughed hard enough to cry, watching the professor attempt to climb back onto the chair while they speed down the runway. He eventually gave up and sat dejectedly on the floor.

"Get up. We're supposed to be professionals." Jason grinned as he grabbed his gear and stood up, waiting for the doors of the freshly stopped jet to open.

"I am a professional. Clearly all of this was intentional." Hercules mumbled half-heartedly, not really concerned with his friends believing him or not as he rubbed his injured side.

'Professional' Pythagoras thought as he began to disembark, all his papers and books now collected and stored in his carry-on. He could try to be. Just do what they do. As he walked down the short flight of stairs he saw several people waiting for him. The sun was just starting to rise over the water and set a glorious glow over the small crowd. Trees reached for the sky everywhere around them past the road they stood on. How odd their jet looked in such a forest.

"Honored guests!" A woman approached them as they touched land. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you in person. I'm Pasiphae, head of the park." She shook all their hands as they introduced themselves in order. "Allow me to introduce you to my most esteemed employees. First, the head of stem cell research, my step-daughter Ariadne," the young woman to the right of Pasiphae gave a curt nod and smile after her name was mentioned, "and my top Game Warden, Icarus," who gave an enthusiastic wave as he stepped up from the way right of his boss.

Pythagoras took in everything she said before speaking. "Sorry, but 'park'? Is this a landmark location?" As he spoke, he looked to Jason for more information, but he seemed to be expecting an answer as much as Py was. Pasiphae smiled in a pleasant sort of way as they waited.

"You were all selected especially for you exceptional talent to be the first guests at my new park. While you are guests, you will be here to give feedback and offer your professional opinions." She explained. Pythagoras processed what she said but ended up more confused than he'd started. Jason made a small noise, as if he intended to speak, or object, or ask her what she meant dragging them all the way here to be her personal critics, but was cut off. "Here are your badges. They tell everyone that you're my guests. Here is your car. This one right here." As she spoke she pointed to a Jeep with the words "Jurassic Park" splayed across the front. "Icarus will take you to the first check point, while Ariadne and I follow behind. I'm sure you must be tired from your trip, but we don't have any time to waste, so your initial tour starts now. See you soon," she finished, walking off to another identical Jeep.

"Are you coming?" Icarus asked, already standing at the door of the car. Py was the first to follow, but he climbed into the backseat with Jason, leaving the passenger seat open for Hercules. Everyone climbed into the spacious vehicle silently, and only started speaking once the car was started.

"A theme park? Is this a bloody theme park?" Hercules asked, straining his neck to see into the backseat.

"Well, sort of. It's a special, one-of-a-kind type park. A lot of work went into making this park, and keeping it secret for so long. You're going to be the first patrons ever to walk through, and trust me, it's worth it!" Icarus said excitedly, looking at Pythagoras through the rearview mirror.

"You're the Game Warden? Of what, exactly? What have they got at a theme park that needs someone with that title?" Py asked, trying to speak up over the sound of the car crunching the ground terrain they had begun travelling on. He was rather interested in the answer, but was decidedly cut off by an impatient Hercules.

"I flew all the way here for an amusement park! Why not invite a school of kids, I bet they can tell you better than I can? What, did you need to make sure your workers are pronouncing Albertosaurus correctly! Or maybe…" Hercules continued to come up with more to say, but Pythagoras stopped listening as Icarus offered no answers. He just grinned, like he knew something big was coming. So this wasn't a dig, and he wasn't going to get any real field time. He wished he wasn't so disappointed. For what Pasiphae were paying the three of them he should be pleased that the job is so easy. Yet, he had been hoping he could finally use all the knowledge he'd stored up for some good.

Eventually, the car slowed to a stop and Icarus turned so everyone could see his face. "Are you ready?" He asked, as a loud roar came from somewhere to their right. They all turned and a gasp came from Hercules and Jason, who both stood up in the open-top car, both effectively blocking Pythagoras' view of what was so interesting. Finally, with great caution, Jason exited the vehicle and cleared Py's line of sight to the vast expanse of land before him.

"Charonosaurus!" The word left his mouth as he looked out at a field where they were apparently roaming. "It's… Their…," he stuttered while attempting to clamor out of the car. Hundreds of acres of land lay before him, populated with every sort of greenery imaginable, and a river that was rushing past, dividing the humans from what very much appeared to be dinosaurs. But they couldn't be. This was a trick of some kind. Animation or electronic or hallucination. It wasn't real. Things like this just didn't happen; couldn't happen.

"They're real." Pasiphae's voice startled them from their daze. "Gentlemen, welcome to Jurassic Park, where extinction is an object of the past." Jason swiveled around and managed to open his mouth first.

"That's not possible. You can't just create a dinosaur. It doesn't work like that, we don't know enough about them to even write about them accurately. They can't be real."

"They are actually," the previously silent Ariadne chimed in. "I helped make them. And while their bones don't hold enough information to reanimate them, their blood does, which we've been finding in preserved mosquitoes for quite some time. Of course it doesn't give us the exactly correct DNA, but we have enough to go on so we can use other, similar creatures DNA to fill in those gaps. Tomorrow we'll take you to the lab to show you how all of this is done in a more in-depth setting, but in a broad sense, this is very possible."

Pythagoras was the only on still staring at the charonosaurus's. He was looking at something that his mind was denying the existence of, and yet did exist. Looking down the river he could see a large docking area where dozens of canoe and kayak racks stood waiting.

"This is an attraction." He said quietly, but only just loud enough for the game warden to hear.

"Yeah. Every dinosaur in this part is a herbivore, so they'll be perfectly safe for people to travel downstream alongside." Icarus was standing closer to him than Py had thought.

"Every!? There are more kinds?" Pythagoras was shouting this time. "Can we see more?" He had clearly just interrupted a conversation between Jason and Ariadne, but there were more dinosaurs and he had to see them; all of them. A nod from Pasiphae, and Icarus was gently grabbing the astounded paleontologist's arm, towing him back to the car. It was only morning, and they had the whole day to explore. Pythagoras stayed glued to the car window for the driven parts. Along the way they stopped at several of the most prominent attractions. A swim-with-dinosaurs reef, which Jason loved excessively, a fake dig site for children, a gondola across the park, a river rapid ride, and separate safari rides through the park to see all manner of dinosaurs. The day past by with one wonder after another, each planned to showcase the dinosaurs while keeping the exhibits from becoming like a zoo. To Pythagoras everything seemed almost real. As if it almost nearly existed, but was too far away to be truly tangible. Jason and Hercules didn't seem to feel bothered so he tried to not be as well. But while the idea of seeing real life dinosaurs was exciting and interesting, seeing them was also dangerous and thought-provoking. There was so much good that could come from this, of course, but a lot more bad seemed inevitable.

Nearing the end of the journey at the welcome center, Icarus, who Py had spent the day at the side of so he could ask endless questions, approached the paleontologist with his own questions. "What's got you so worried? You should be excited. Isn't this what you've been working towards your whole life?" Py paused before he answered; looking around at the area he was in. He saw advertising for different areas in the park. Stock photos of dinosaurs plastered everywhere, merchandise available for purchase, ticket prices posted for shows, the whole building designed to look like what it was promoting was something natural.

"No. I don't think so. I think… I do what I do so I can learn more about these creatures that lived hundreds of years ago. So I can explore an incredible part of our history and make discoveries about our own existence. I love dinosaurs, but maybe there was a reason they're gone. Everything happens for a reason, and I don't think we were supposed to co-exist. And certainly not like this," he said, gesturing to the endless advertising and merchandising surrounding the pair of them. "These aren't animals, their dinosaurs. Maybe that doesn't mean something to you, but it does to me. I just feel like all of this is too good to last." Icarus tilted his head at an angle, trying to figure out the man standing before him, the one speaking about humanity and danger. There was a click breaking the silence. Pythagoras turned the full way around and stood face to face with Pasiphae.

"Well, that's some kind of criticism. But, the way we see it, all animals can be dangerous, but zoos are still considered safe. This place is really no different than an interactive zoo, if that helps." She seemed rocked by his critique, but he was glad she had heard it. "Well, it's been a day. Tomorrow we can get up close and personal with our dinosaur friends, and then maybe you'll change your mind about how you feel. I do want your opinion; I just don't want anyone making snap judgements because of a fear of the unknown. Your rooms are upstairs in the 'Specials' suites. Icarus, take them to their rooms. When we get actual staff hired, of course, we'll have specific people for this sort of job." She'd said that all day as they passed exhibits without workers. She seemed to be taking no chances with word getting out early about this park, having only the minimal staff required actually at the park right now. For the most part that meant just them, and the odd dinosaur wrangler who Icarus gave orders to if needed.

Icarus led them through the clear elevator that allowed for surveying of the outside and inside depending which way you faced. The welcome center was on a hill that allowed you to look over and see large gates and giant signs. Not a National Park. Pythagoras reflected on his earlier predictions, back when he was in the plane. Was that this morning? It felt far away. Like it was 65 million years in the past. Had the world really gotten so much bigger in a matter of hours? Or was it smaller now?

Maybe all of this was relative.


	2. Friends Are As Companions On A Journey

A ding announced the top floor, where their private rooms were. "So, here's the deal. Because all of the staff is using these rooms for personal use, since the staff building isn't quite finished yet, there's only one two-person suite available. But I'm staying in a two-person by myself, so one of you can share with me." He smiled as Pythagoras as if there was any choice in the matter. Jason and Hercules knew Py had spent more time with him than they had, so of course he was going to share with the warden.

"Alright," Pythagoras agreed. So Hercules and Jason were left at their room, and Pythagoras followed the brown curly back of Icarus's head towards the end of the hall, and into a suite 28.

"It's a perfect number."

"What?" Icarus tossed his hair as he turned to look at Pythagoras.

"28. It's… It's a perfect number. Um… A number that's equal to the sum of its proper positive dividers. They always end in 6 or 8. They're quite rare, actually. Sorry, that's probably boring. Just, something I know."

"No, no. I love when people can see things other people can't. I saw a room number, but you saw something rare, and beautiful. I like that." Py chewed his lip, smiling wide with the bit of his mouth between his teeth while walking in behind Icarus. The room was too large to ever feel full, no matter how much they put in it.

"This one's yours." Icarus pointed to the bed closest to the door, where Py then deposited his bag. The two got ready for bed in a subtle silence. They were talking, but it wasn't really conversation coming out, just words, words, words. Icarus made some calls before crawling into bed, and used his phone to check dinosaur encasements for structural integrity. Then it was actually silent. But no one was sleeping.

"Pythagoras?"

"Yes."

"I thought about what you said earlier."

"Oh?" Py turned over to face Icarus in his separate bed, but he was looking at the ceiling with intensity. "What did I say?"

"About what we're doing here. I guess… I understand what you mean. But if we weren't meant to do this, why were we able to?"

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I can throw myself off a cliff, but I don't, because I know better. We can create dinosaurs, but then we're right back on that cliff, aren't we?" Pythagoras explained. Icarus just stared up and up, and didn't look down.

"You're friends seem to think its fine." He said, finally. Pythagoras had also noticed his friend's distinct joy at the return of the extinct.

"Well, I think they wanted this more. They spent their lives seeing these things buried in the ground, and now they can see them as they were meant to be seen."

"And their experiences aren't yours?" Icarus asked.

"My experience?" Pythagoras said. "Oh, I've never actually been anywhere past my museum."

"Really? But I thought-"

"No, they assumed I traveled with Jason. I just didn't correct them." A pause. "I knew they wouldn't let me come if they knew I was just the museum worker who happened to have degrees in paleontology." Another pause.

"Why did you want to come so bad? You didn't even know what this was. It could have been something awful. What's so wrong with being a museum worker?" Icarus turned his gaze to face Pythagoras who couldn't have noticed with his eyes now turned to the sky.

"I just wanted to be useful. Or at least know that I can be. Is that selfish?"

"Yes. But you say that like it's wrong to want things for yourself. Be selfish. Prove your worth, even if it's to nobody but you. You'll feel better."

"Thank you." The conversation was dropped and the darkness of the room removed the idea of starting another one, so Icarus shut his eyes. Pythagoras faced the sleeping Icarus and thought he should be doing the same, but instead he just watched the breath go in and out of the game warden's lungs. Watched his hair twist and writhe with every little movement. Watched him live, and exist, just to make sure something here was real. Only then did he go to sleep.

By sunrise Pythagoras was up and ready to start the day. They were going to get close to the dinosaurs today, and the containment units. Perhaps a look at the safety features would calm the ache in Py's nerves. Icarus's eyes followed the paleontologist as he went through his morning routine of eating, reading, brushing his teeth, reading, writing, reading, and finally getting dressed, which Pythagoras did discreetly in the bathroom. Icarus was ready in half the time Py was, which wasn't shocking because everyone always was.

They met everyone else outside at the elevator. Py approached Jason first.

"How was your night?" He asked

"Are you kidding?" Jason squawked. "What, you couldn't hear Hercules from your room? I'm shocked we didn't get calls from our neighbors about a dinosaur loose!" Py laughed, and Jason followed before asking the same question in return. "So, how was your night with the warden?"

Pythagoras looked over at the man he'd shared the room with, who was patiently waiting for the elevator to rise up. "Fine. He's very nice, I think." The two continued with small talk and pleasant conversation as the boarded the elevator and rode it down to the ground floor, where only Ariadne was waiting for them.

"Pasiphae had to handle something or other in the park, but she said she would meet you during the day. I guess that puts me in charge of your journey today, but I will ask our game warden's opinion. What would you like them to see first?" Ariadne asked, facing Icarus.

"Velociraptors are my favourite." He answered almost immediately. Jason and Hercules nodded overly-enthusiastically, but Icarus was looking to Pythagoras, who gave a vague non-committal shoulder shrug of agreement. So off they set, traveling again through the tropical forest, past signs pointing to various dinosaur exhibits. Jason, Hercules and Pythagoras found this an excellent time to start doing Dinosaur Trivia based on names they passed, and Pythagoras was winning when they pulled up to a crowd in front of the raptor encasement. Icarus looked concerned, and jumped out of the car as soon as it was stopped.

"Stay in here, okay?" He ordered, but none of them listened, and stepped out of the car with him. Pasiphae was with the group of what appeared to be armed workers. "What's going on?" It was Pythagoras's guess that their group was not going to be told if something was wrong, and he was right. Pasiphae immediately saw them and shuffled over, a smile plastered across her face.

"Nothing, just a little aggressive behavior from the raptors." Pasiphae said "We're going to need to steal the Game Warden for right now, but you can continue on your tour with Ariadne to the lab, if you please. Icarus, come with me." She seemed flustered, and that bothered Py. Something bigger was going on, and he wanted to know. Ariadne went back to her Jeep, motioning for the others to climb in. Jason and Hercules followed, and the three of them were so unsettled by the current situation that none noticed Pythagoras disappearing after Icarus. As quiet as he could he climbed into the back of Icarus's Jeep and listened. The only voices he recognized were Pasiphae and Icarus's, the others must have been some of the armed people.

"Aggressive behavior? That's the best you could come up with? What's actually happening?" That was Icarus.

"We're not sure how she did it, but one of the raptors managed to dig out from under the encasement."

"Dig out! Where is she!?"

"Icarus!" And there was Pasiphae. "Keep your voice down. We don't know exactly. That's what your job is. Check her tracking device on your phone and go find her."

"Yeah, alright, but how did we even allow this to happ-" Icarus started but was apparently visually stopped by someone, because he didn't continue. Pasiphae continued with her orders.

"Go out, bring the tranquilizer, get her and bring her back. We'll deal with the digging issue when she's found."

"But-"

"Icarus, every second you waste she gets farther away. Go." There was an exasperated sigh and to Py it sounded like someone gave Icarus a weapon of some kind before he climbed into the Jeep and took off. This was, of course, the Jeep Pythagoras was hiding in the back of and now he was regretting choosing it as his place of hiding. Now he had several choices. He could remain silent and if that rouge dinosaur came it would probably eat him first and there was nothing anyone could do about it, or he could speak up and potentially get thrown out of the Jeep and park for spying. Py decided he preferred living over getting chucked out, and propped himself up.

"Ehm, um, Icarus…" The game warden jammed on the breaks and whipped his head around to see a very embarrassed Pythagoras pulling himself off the floor of the Jeep.

"What are you doing? Why didn't you leave with Ariadne? Were you… You were listening, weren't you?" Icarus wasn't shouting, which Py considered a blessing, but he did seem upset.

"I don't like being lied to. Especially when there's a dinosaur loose in the park. I think we had a right to know that!" Py hadn't meant to start shouting, but somehow he was. "What happens if it's following the other Jeep? Is this how this park is usually run?"

"No!" Icarus shouted. "This has never happened before. We've never had a breech like this. But you know what, I told them we should have put metal flooring in, and they didn't listen. They wanted the ground to feel 'natural'. How could no one have noticed a hole appearing in the floor? This is why we needed more staff." He was ranting, and seemed to forget that Py was there for a short while until he used his voice again.

"At least it happened before the park opened." Py offered. "This could have been a lot messier." Icarus stared at the disheveled paleontologist for a short second before sighing and pulling his tranquilizer gun of the passenger seat.

"If we're gonna keep talking you might as well hop up here." Icarus said, putting the gun on his lap and offering Py a hand to help climb up front. Pythagoras took it and got comfortable in the front while Icarus checked his phone for the raptors current location. "She should be up ahead." Py leaned over and looked at the phone, which currently showed a map and a blinking red dot moving further away.

"Where is she going?" Py mused aloud as they continued driving. "Carnivorous dinosaurs basically live to hunt, but we've passed plenty of places where she could have stopped to eat. And look at her pattern of movement," He continued, grabbing the phone from Icarus, who was equal parts invested in watching the road and listening to Pythagoras. "She's not exploring her surroundings at all. She's moving in almost a straight line. It's like she has a destination in mind." Icarus leaned over for a second to see what Py meant.

"Yeah. But where is she going? Do you think she's trying to leave the park?" Icarus suggested, but Py shook his head.

"She has no way to know that there's anything beyond this park, or even that she's in one. If you left your house, you wouldn't assume there's a cage around the outdoors, would you? No, it has to be something here. This isn't a random pattern…" Pythagoras trailed off, continuing to watch the blip on the screen trek ahead of them.

They followed for about 20 minutes, eventually going off-road to try and catch up with the velociraptor. They passed containment units, paddocks, almost finished park features, and several select stops for the safari ride. The beginning of the ride had consisted of the fear that the raptor wouldn't be found, but now the concern for Pythagoras was finding the raptor. Pythagoras had no experience with dead dinosaurs, but he had even less with live ones.

"When we find her, you do know what you're doing, right? With that," Pythagoras asked, gesturing to the gun on Icarus's lap. He was trying to not sound insulting or patronizing, but his concern at the moment seemed more important than anyone's ego. Icarus didn't seem upset when he looked over, though.

"Hey, we're gonna be fine." He said, putting his hand on Pythagoras's shoulder. "It's just a raptor. One hit and she'll be out. If anything goes wrong, I'll be here. I'll keep you safe." Just then the dot on the phone stopped moving. Icarus hit the gas and speed ahead, trying to reach the creature before it started moving again. "It looks like she hit the T-Rex fence. If she did, that wall goes on for miles; she'll never get around it before we catch her."

"Wait, no," Pythagoras objected. "She's gone."

"What? No, that's impossible. Did you hit something?" Icarus was still flying ahead, but his eyes were darting to the phone. "Unless she's dead, she'll show up on that." Pythagoras tried with desperate vigor to get the red dot back on the screen, but to no avail. He was still fiddling with the device when a large wired fence came into view. It towered over everything around them, with signs declaring it held tens of thousands of electric volts inside each wire.

Py and Icarus stepped out of the car on it had been stopped, looking to see if there was any evidence of the raptor.

"Icarus. Look…" Pythagoras pointed to a spot on the fence that was splayed with blood and flesh. "Do you think she ran into it an electrocuted herself?" He asked, as Icarus leaned over to inspect.

"No. She's too clever for that." He said, carefully looking over the area. "And there wouldn't really be blood."

"Wait look, there's something hanging on that bit." Py grabbed the warden's arm with one hand and pointed to the bloodiest spot with another where a medium sized device was hanging. "What is that-" Pythagoras approached the wall to inspect the anomaly but suddenly slipped down a groove and tumbled to the ground. Icarus desperately grabbed for Pythagoras's waist and shoulders, yanking himself to the floor as well, barely managing to keep Py from smashing into the whirring electric fence on their way down. The breath smacked out of both of them as they collapsed into something deep in the ground, Pythagoras landing smack on top of Icarus.

"Pythagoras. Py are you alright, can you hear me? Did you touch the wall?" Icarus sounded frantic, flipping himself over so he was almost on top of Pythagoras. The paleontologist wanted to say he was fine, to say thank you for pulling him to safety, but there was dark brown hair that wasn't his own falling into his eyes and there was a hand around his waist that didn't belong to him and there was a heart beating close enough to his own that he could feel it pounding through Icarus's flesh and all of a sudden speaking became a challenge to impossible to attempt. Instead, after several moments' deliberation, he decided to forfeit speaking altogether and shuffled himself a little to look and see what had made him fall.

"Oh, I think we have bigger problems than me touching the wall, Icarus." Pythagoras said, returning his gaze to the warden with a panicked expression. On their way down they had dislodged what was hanging on the wall. It was fried, and broken beyond repair, but it was definitely the velociraptors tracking device. And the groove they were currently lying in was most definitely a hole deep enough to allow a velociraptor to get into the tyrannosaurus encasement.

"Shit."


	3. There Are Men And Gods And Beings

It only took several minutes after Icarus made the call for the entirety of the staff to arrive at the tyrannosaurs fence. Pasiphae seemed to have lost her smile as she leapt from her car to assess the situation with Icarus. She seemed temporarily oblivious to Pythagoras's presence.

"How did you let this happen? I asked you find her and bring her back! This wasn't difficult! Instead you let her get into the T-Rex encasement? Why were you not doing your job?" She shouted, her hair becoming as frantic as her speech. The golden sun was still rising, it was becoming hotter with each passing moment, and there was a raptor that could dig holes running loose in another dinosaur's area. Given these circumstances, Icarus made a wise choice and ignored Pasiphae's rambled complaints regarding his character.

"We need to get this raptor out of here," Icarus explained, to Pasiphae and really anyone in the general vicinity. "Given the pattern she's been following this whole time she clearly had some kind of purpose coming here, and we need to stop her before she gets to whatever she's trying to do." He said this with vigor, but offered no explanation on how to get the raptor out, or even how to find her. A voice from the twenty odd people there raised the question "How?" Icarus was silent, mulling over the question before turning to Pythagoras, who was deep in thought at the moment as well. It was Pasiphae who spoke first, not offering solutions, but instead giving orders.

"Fine, I'll deal with this. We're going to momentarily shut of the electric fence, and all of you are going to go in and search this raptor out. You find her, shoot her, bring her back, and we'll turn the fence on. We can still track the T-Rex, who is a safe distance from us, and not planning on moving as far as we can tell. Tarek, turn off the fence."

"Wait!" Pythagoras shouted, stepping over to Pasiphae. "Turn off the gate? No, you can't do that!"

"Why not!?"

"Then there's nothing between you and that dinosaur," he said, pointing to the red blip on the phone that indicated the tyrannosaurus's location. "You need to keep the fence on."

"I am in charge here, not you. This is my park, and I will do what I wish."

"Why isn't the t-rex moving? Isn't that odd? Shouldn't it sense the raptor, somehow, and go after her? Why is she so still? That's not right! None of this is! Do not turn off that fence-"

"Enough! I know what is best for this park, not you! I am head of everything and you are a dinosaur expert who's never gone anywhere past your front door! You're not even supposed to be here! You were meant to leave with the others, but apparently that was too complicated for you to understand. I don't know how you got here, but you're going to be leaving immediately. Icarus, if you like spending so much time with him you can escort him out of the park. Now!" With that Pasiphae was returning to business, giving order, and someone was pressing in a code on the side of the fence, and Icarus was motioning Pythagoras to the car, and the whirring of the fence ceased entirely, and all was quiet for one sweet, brief moment.

Guns in hand, the workers gathered at the wall of the fence before slipping cautiously between its lines into the encasement, one after the other. Soft whispers travelled between them as they shared commands and suggestions for going about this challenging task. Icarus, at some point, walked over to where Pythagoras was standing, attempting to coerce him to leave by pressing a hand to his shoulder and tugging in a gentle sort of way.

"No," Py declared, slipping away from his grip. "You know it, you know something isn't right about all of this. About any of this. Something's going to happen. Do something about it!"

"Do what? What would you have me do? Py, these people are highly trained in combat, they're gonna be fine. I agree, there has to be a safer way, but there's nothing we can do right now."

"Icarus, please talk to her." Py begged, pointing to Pasiphae, who was watching the last of her staff climb through the fence. "Bring them back. Please! We've got all these jigsaw pieces but no picture to reference. Every second is dangerous to miss, but for the safety of everyone-"

Then, a lot of things happened at once.

The scream came first. Then gunfire. Blood splashed across Pythagoras as the raptor slashed the man Pasiphae called Tarek through the stomach, pulling out a gratuitous amount of his innards. Icarus leapt into action, calling for everyone to get back over through the fence, but no one was listening, or maybe no one could hear him. The sound of guns littered the air to the point of deafness, but nothing changed. The raptor moved from one person to the next, slashing and tearing with claws that were getting significantly bloodier with each attack. Icarus rushed to one of the many cars that were parked nearby and grabbed a spare gun, only to realize every person on this team was armed with a non-lethal weapon. He tried shooting a few times, but blood kept flowing from the humans on the other side. Some were dying instantly, while others lay for a few moments, suffering in agony before their release.

There was so much noise and blood and death and fear encompassing all the senses that Py could understand why no one saw her before he did. Pythagoras pointed and opened his mouth in warning, but she screamed first, and Py's warning was unnecessary. The roar from the tyrannosaurus was impossibly loud and impeccably clear. In the moment, Py reached to clutch the phone Icarus had dropped, just to double-check his predictions, which were undisputedly accurate. The t-rex had moved, but her tracking device hadn't. Somewhere on her body there must have been a blood-covered scar from where her tracker had been torn out from her flesh, but Pythagoras didn't stay and look for one. With the tyrannosaurus roar came a brief silence, encompassed by fear, then a panicked frenzy as Pasiphae screamed for the electric fence to be turned back on.

Those who were still on the side of the gate with the dinosaurs became even more frantic with their attempts to escape, knowing the gate was going to be turned on within seconds, and they would be trapped. Py would have raced to the switch to try and keep it on so the others still trapped could get back in, but it wouldn't have mattered. With no electric current to block her, the t-rex smashed its whole weight against the bars and brought the contraption down with a crash of dust and debris.

"Pythagoras!" a voice that sounded like Icarus's shouted as a raptor came charging towards Py. He attempted to run but he could hear the raptor gaining on him. There was a momentary pause he made to look behind him and check the distance between him and the raptor when a set a claws slashed across his chest, throwing him to the ground. In a flash Icarus had removed himself from the dust cloud that had ensnared him and bolted over to his Jeep. The key turned, the engine started and the gas pedal stuck to the floor as Icarus rammed the front into the raptor hovering over Pythagoras.

The tyrannosaurus roared again before lowering her head to wrap her teeth around another gunner, who shot into her mouth as his body was separated from his legs with a bone-smashing bite. Icarus ignored the event, and the other disasters being caused by the still collapsing gate while he rushed to Pythagoras's side.

"We have to go!" He told Py as he helped the injured paleontologist up from the ground and hurried him into the passenger's seat of the car.

"No," Pythagoras objected. "We have to stay and help the others!"

"Othe- Pythagoras, there's maybe six of us left. Everyone else is dead or dying. We need to go!" Pythagoras heard what he said and lifted his head to look around. The tyrannosaurus wasn't wasting any time and had started devouring groups of people instead of singletons, while the raptor, who was working off her injury from the car collision, stabbed, slashed, and ate anyone that had gotten left behind. The six or so that Icarus supposed were still alive were not going to be for much longer as they tried, and failed, to shoot down either creature. Soon there would be none. And it would be just them left.

As quick as he could Icarus reversed the car, windshield wipers on their highest setting to wipe off the blood that got splayed across from both humans and the raptor. Performing the greatest three-point turn in history, the game warden managed to get the car turned around in the direction opposite of the dinosaurs. The pair sped through the woods, this time completely disregarding the roads and signs, and instead drove without direction or purpose.

"Check behind us!" Icarus shouted while he clung to the steering wheel. Pythagoras did as he was told and swiveled his head around behind him just in time to prepare himself for the pre-historic passenger that was boarding their vehicle. The raptor seemed to have been chasing behind them throughout their journey across the park, and now had decided to make a leap onto their Jeep. The car sunk and the rear smacked the ground momentarily when the weight of the raptor was added. Pythagoras made a grab for Icarus's gun, but wasn't able to grab it when the ground shook violently from the tremors the t-rex was making with its footsteps. Py could now see the larger dinosaur crushing a path to catch up with the car. And catch up it did, her steps consuming the path beneath it. Pythagoras almost closed his eyes as she opened her stained jaw, blood diluted with spit dripping off her teeth, and bent down.

In this moment Pythagoras was glad he had kept his eyes open. For the tyrannosaurus did not eat Icarus and himself, but instead snatched the raptor, and a fair bit of the backseat, from the car. She then seemed to stop, as she gorged herself on the other dinosaur.

"What happened?" Icarus asked, not daring to pull his eyes away from the obstacle course he was navigating through.

"The raptors dead," Py said. "The t-rex ate her. She's stopped moving. I think she's full."

"Good," Icarus replied. "Good. That gives us time to-" A rumbling caused Icarus to stop speaking. Both men perked up to check what was making the low pitched noise. Then they heard a tire screech and saw a single headlight joining their own two in front of them. Py whipped to his left to see a helmeted motorcyclist catching up to the Jeep. The motorcycle, like everything else here, had the distinct Jurassic Park logo plastered on the side. A gloved hand slipped up from the handlebars and flipped the visor of the helmet up.

"I heard what happened over the radio!" Ariadne shouted over the thrum of the cars and motorcycle. "Did anyone else make it!?" Icarus shook his head and Ariadne was silent for a second. "Something isn't right about all of this! Maybe we don't know everything about velociraptors but I know they shouldn't be acting like this!"

"Pythagoras and you are on the same level then!" Icarus shouted in response, jerking his head over to his companion.

"Then we're in agreement on the matter." She said. "I need to get to my lab. Something is off in the genetics of these raptors. I need to find out what kind of genes they put in them!"

"First we need to get Py somewhere he can rest. The raptor got him in the chest. Not too bad, but enough to bleed out if he doesn't get help! Your labs on the other side of the park, and we need to stop soon." Icarus said.

"Alright. I left Jason and Hercules at the welcome center to see if I could go help at the gate, but I guess I was too late!" She was talking to Pythagoras now as she navigated over roots and dodged past trees. "I saw the t-rex walking the opposite direction before I found your tracks, so it should be safe there, and it's closer than any of the other buildings. It should be coming up if we turn left right…now!" Ariadne and Icarus both drifted for a few seconds as they turned onto actual road. Gradually slowing down, the two came to a complete stop in front of the welcome center, which Jason and Hercules were both standing in front of instead of inside.

"Is everyone alright!" Jason said as he rushed over, significantly faster the Hercules, who was more-or-less doing the same thing. He wandered over to Pythagoras, and instantly zoned in on the wound across his chest. He asked his friend if he was alright, which Py responed to with and "I'll live" before he continued with finding out what had actually occurred. "What the hell happened out there?"

"They'll tell you when you're all inside," Ariadne answered. "I need to get to my lab now."

"Is a dinosaur loose?" Jason asked quicker than Ariadne could get her bike started again.

"Yes."

"Do you know how to work a gun?" Jason asked her, not missing a beat.

"Yes, but I can't be carrying one while I'm working in the lab. It'll slow me down, get in the way, and be totally useless in general if I needed to use it."

"Then I'm coming with you." Jason said, apparently already armed. He noticed Hercules was too.

Ariadne didn't object to Jason coming with her, and immediately scooted forward on her bike to make room for him. She's more clever than proud. If anyone survives this, it's going to be her. Pythagoras thought as Icarus and Hercules led him into the building.

If anyone survives this.


	4. The Soul Of This World

Pythagoras was leaving a light trail of blood behind him as he was helped into the welcome center, which he didn't really notice as his mind began working, trying to find an answer to a problem where parts of the equation were still missing. He would have to wait until Ariadne and Jason got back to figure out what had really gone wrong, but he supposed he could still work on how to get the five of them out while he was stuck here.

As Icarus snatched a first-aid kit from the wall, he brought Hercules up to speed on what went down at the tyrannosaurus encasement. How different it all sounds, Pythagoras thought, being told as opposed to when it was happening. None of it sounded real, but rather otherworldly in nature. As if it was something which might have happened several ages ago, but not several minutes.

Icarus's hand brushed the wounds with a delicate and swift movement, his skin barely touching Pythagoras's flesh as it grazed over. Py followed the other man's hand with his eyes, watching it grab swabs of antiseptic wipes to try and clean the wound. Icarus was muttering something that the paleontologist didn't catch because all his focus was on the wandering hand.

"Pythagoras?" Icarus said in that way people do when they had just asked a question that was awaiting an answer. His hand stopped moving, but Pythagoras's skin still tingled where it had been touched.

"Yes? Sorry. I was listening. Well, I wasn't, but I meant to be. What?" Pythagoras stumbled through his words as he somehow strung them along into a sentence of relative coherency. His skin felt bothered and his body temperature was slightly warmer than it had been before Icarus had started. Icarus quirked a smile and looked down for a moment. Just one. Then he moved back to what he had been saying before.

"What now? You seem to have been right about everything so far, the dinosaurs acting weird, crossing the fence, everything, so I'm asking you: What should we do?" Hercules had stopped attempting to untangle a mess of ace bandage from the first-aid kit to look over at Pythagoras. The professor had an expression which seemed to be a mix between expectation and worry. Pythagoras worked in a museum, and while he was inarguably intelligent, rampaging dinosaurs were not his forte. But the way Icarus looked at him, like he could never be convinced that Pythagoras wouldn't know what to do, settled just the right way inside his soul.

"Right then," Py said. "First we wait until Ariadne and Jason get back. That's… Yeah, that sounds good for now." Hercules nodded and handed the un-wrapped bandages to Icarus, who returned to caring for Pythagoras.

"Then we'll wait for them. In the meantime I need you to sit up for me." Pythagoras did as he was told while Icarus's hand gently slid around Py's waist with the bandages, circling his midriff until he came back to his chest. Pythagoras wondered, just for a moment, if the warden's fingers were intentionally drifting over the small of his back just close enough to skim the skin, causing small shivers to curl up his spine each time. Experimented with the idea that Icarus meant to run his hands over flesh instead of bandage, though he acted like it was an accident. Debated, for one second, whether Icarus was altogether closer than he needed to be specifically for the reason of being close to Py.

Then that moment ended. Just as the bandage finished going on and Hercules administered a dosage of pain-killers to his past student, and alarm rang out on Icarus's phone, which was right now in Pythagoras's pocket.

"Do you mind if I?" Icarus half asked as he slid his hand into Pythagoras's front pocket to retrieve the phone. Py could feel a smidge more blood seep out of his wounds as his stomach tightened at the unexpected action. As soon as he reached in Icarus had pulled the phone out but the warmth of where Icarus's hand had been on his thigh lingered afterwards.

"Shit." Pythagoras remembered Icarus saying this before. Before everything fell apart.

"Is she coming?" Hercules asked.

"I don't know." Icarus answered, still staring at his phone. "But there's just been a breach in the Raptor Containment Unit. That means at least one, if not all, the raptors are loose."

"We're gonna need more guns then!" Hercules said, at least offering some kind of solution while Pythagoras became more puzzled with each new occurrence. "Jason and I only took two from the basement when we found them. We should go get more!" He motioned Icarus towards him and the two appeared to be setting off towards a staircase. "You just… Keep watch!" Hercules said, turning around for a second before continuing on. At least he was trying to make Pythagoras feel less useless.

In the silence and solitude Pythagoras sat thinking about all the issues surrounding what had just occurred. The other raptor got out by digging, which didn't set off Icarus's alarm, so the only way the raptors could have gotten out was if their encasement itself was damaged, and the only way they could have done that, in a way that was likely in this scenario, was through the help of an outside force. Like a gigantic tyrannosaurus rex. But why would that dinosaur damage the raptor containment unit? If it wanted to eat there were plenty of other, more easily accessible dinosaurs to devour. No, it wanted them loose, but why would it free the raptors when it ate the other one?

Either way, fighting didn't sound like a good idea by any means. The only way out, it seemed to Pythagoras, was to get out. Dealing with the living dinosaur problem was an issue for another time when lives, particularly his friends, were not at risk. Pythagoras racked his brain for a way off, but his options were limited. If there were boats here they would be too slow to make a journey to the mainland without any food or water. Cars, trains and buses were ruled out immediately, which left only the airborne options. They had arrived by plane, and there were helicopters at the landing sight. Those were definitely the best option, but they were only useful if someone knew how to fly them.

"Icarus!" Pythagoras called out down the staircase his friends had trotted off several minutes ago. "Do you know how to fly-" he began, but was interrupted by a loud bang against the door. Pythagoras was about to call out to ask if it was Ariadne or Jason come back from the lab when a set of claws sliced through the wooden door. It took seconds for the velociraptor to tear it's way through. Pythagoras took the same amount of time to stand up and rush to hide behind a counter.

Trying to quiet his breathing, Pythagoras sat in absolute silence as he heard the unpleasant sound of raptor claws delicately scraping the floor. From what he could hear, the raptor was just moving around, exploring her surroundings. Nothing in her manner indicated that she was aware of anyone's presence in the room. Then the sound got closer. And closer. Then it stopped right on the other side of the counter.

Pythagoras felt an odd sense of separation from reality as he slowly turned his head up to look above him. The raptor's face was directly above his own, leaning over the counter to see him. And they just sat there for a few precious seconds. Py didn't move, and neither did the raptor as they stared at each other. But the moment passed, and instinct kicked in and Pythagoras took the raptors pause of confusion and ran with it, standing up as fast as he could and booking it towards the stairs. No longer stagnant the raptor screamed and chased him, catching up in a few steps. It was the same as before, him running, and her chasing. She was definitely going to catch up, and certainly going to kill him. She wouldn't make the same mistake as her sister. There was no Jeep to ram her over. Except this time, Pythagoras wouldn't make the same mistakes as before either. This time, he wouldn't look back.

It killed him to do it, but as he approached the stairs he made a sharp turn. Icarus and Hercules and weapons were down there, but he would not make it to the bottom of the stairs in time. Instead he ran, his lungs aching from the exertion, towards the display of chairs and tables set up for the enjoyment of what would have been potential customers. Taking a breath too deep for his wasted lungs Pythagoras reached the first chair in the circle around the table, yanked it up, and spun around, putting his whole body into the motion as the chair smacked the raptor directly in the side. A crack sounded as the raptor hit the floor from the unexpected hit. She stood up but Py hit her again, this time square across the face. She seemed stunned, if not injured, having not expected him to react in such a way. This time, with a vengeance, she screamed forward, tearing her claws through the metal chair, throwing it out of Pythagoras's hands. Her other arms extended, ready to slice through Pythagoras when gunfire sounded. The raptor turned directions and immediately began rushing towards Icarus as he shot more and more rounds. Pythagoras though perhaps she knew she wasn't going to survive the gunshots but thought she could make it to Icarus before she died. She didn't. The raptor fell just short of reaching distance from the game warden, leaving a trail of blood and partially destroyed organs from Pythagoras to Icarus.

The second she fell Icarus was by Pythagoras.

"Are you hurt? Did she get you?" Icarus's hands were all over him, running over his chest to check for injuries before coming up to rest on the side of his face. "You're okay, right?"

Pythagoras kept steady, staring at him in silence before remembering to answer.

"Yes!" He blurted out finally, reaching his hand up to Icarus's, partially to give it permission to be removed, but also perhaps to feel it against his own. "I used the chair." He said uselessly. Hercules approached the chair Pythagoras had used as a weapon and gave it a once-over.

"Not bad!" Hercules exclaimed. "Of course if I'd been here I would have killed her with it. I've got strong upper muscles. It runs in the family. But good work for someone of your… stature." Pythagoras shot him a look, Hercules grinned, and Icarus's hand was still holding onto Py's when the door slammed open, allowing the entrance of Jason and Ariadne.

"Tyrannosaurus DNA!" Ariadne said as soon as she was visible, moving closer to the trio. "The raptors have tyrannosaurus DNA in them!"

"And it looks like Pasiphae was the one who gave the lab orders to add it!" Jason added, handing Pythagoras a flash drive that must have held all this information and a print copy of the evidence in a paper file; one to look at now and one to keep for later.

"Why would she do that?" Icarus asked, peeking at the papers from over Py's shoulder as the paleontologist sifted through them. "What would be the purpose?"

"Attention! Glamour! Danger! Who cares, she was a looney!" Hercules said, not bothering to look at the papers because he wouldn't have understood what they were saying anyway, and instead getting in front of Pythagoras. "Any bright ideas yet?"

The room went silent to listen to whatever Pythagoras had to say. If he were anyone else, he might have said it made him feel powerful. But it didn't. It made him feel responsible; for their lives if anything went wrong; for their pain if any of them got hurt.

"I think the best course of action is to leave the island. We now have a t-rex and, um, how many raptors are loose?" Pythagoras asked Icarus.

"We had five. Now we have three."

"There's raptors loose!" Jason cut in. "Wait, what? When!?"

"Icarus will explain later," Py told him. "But that's still four dangerous dinosaurs running around the island. One raptor came in here," he continued, pointing to the dead raptor lying in a mess of red ooze. "But she came alone, which likely means she was a scout. The others will notice if she doesn't come back, so we should be leaving, probably now and head to the landing strip for the planes. Can you fly a plane?" He turned to Icarus again.

"No," he answered. "But I can fly a helicopter!"

"Perfect. Then, we should go."

He didn't have to ask twice. There was a general nod shared between everyone as they headed back out the door they had all came in, Jason high-fiving Icarus for his raptor kill while they walked, which Pythagoras wasn't sure was in the best taste, but as long as they were both happy.

The Jeep was just as it had been before, the back seat almost completely gone with only tufts of cushion left on the crushed metal where the seats had once been. Blood spatter was everywhere, from the rims of the windshield where the raptor got hit to the sprinkle of red fluid in the back that had spilt when the raptor was bitten into.

"Pythagoras, help me navigate," Icarus told him as they reached the car. "Hercules, you're look-out in the back. If you see something, shout."

"He can handle that!" Jason shouted, having over-heard the conversation from his position over by Ariadne's motorcycle. There was a polite giggle from Ariadne, and a full out laugh from Pythagoras.

"You're laughing now," Hercules grumbled. "Just see if I give you any warning if I see one. Wait and see." He huffed the last bit as he gave up opening the disheveled door and simply rolled himself over the side and flopped onto the floor of the car. Icarus casually opened the door for Pythagoras and shut it for him when he was seated. Py couldn't help smiling at the custom as he got Icarus's phone onto the map app.

Icarus started the Jeep as Ariadne's motorcycle roared to life. The scientist did a circle back to where the Jeep was and pulled up to the side.

"If we leave the island, what is going to happen to the dinosaurs? We can't just leave them here." Ariadne asked, having had a little time to think over the escape plan. It was Icarus who answered her question this time.

"Actually," he said. "I've got a friend in the National Guard. If I tell her what the situation is, she'll listen. We give her these files, and she can prove it to anyone. Us, the National Guard might not listen to. Her? Definitely."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. There is a code in these dinosaurs where a certain chemical combination will instantly kill them. I downloaded it onto that flash drive. I'll make it, they take it, end of story." Ariadne explained. Jason's hands were wrapped tight around her waist, and one of Ariadne's hands had slipped from the handlebar to find a place on his arm. Py tossed a subtle look at Jason as Icarus and Ariadne worked out details. Jason shrugged with a smile and took her unoccupied hand off his arm to put into his hand instead. Ariadne willingly let their hands fold together as she finished up her business with the Game Warden.

"Then we're all ready to go. I'm following you." Ariadne ended, pulling her hand gingerly from Jason's to return to the handlebar. Icarus sought confirmation from Pythagoras, which was given with a nod, before the five of them drove off.

We're almost there, Pythagoras thought. Get to the helicopter, get in, and fly home. Go back to working in my museum. Go back to reality. Go back to 65 million years in the future.


	5. The Habit Of Acting Thoughtlessly

Pythagoras sat complacently, fiddling with the phone. A part of him itched and yearned to call emergency services with the phone, but the island was so secret and so private, no one would believe him; no one would bother to listen. Everyone except this alleged friend of Icarus's.

"Say, Icarus, do you think we could call your friend in the National Guard right now?" Py asked the driver.

"We can try if it'll make you feel better." Icarus answered, taking his phone out of the other's hands and punching in a number. "She always said she didn't know what we were doing here, but I always thought she knew a little bit more than she claimed. But you know until we have proof for her to show she can't do anything for us." He was more serious on the last sentence then he had been before. He knew Pythagoras was scared, and just wanted to be home, but he wouldn't give him hope where there was none. Pythagoras nodded in understanding.

"I just think it'll be easier if she knows we're coming. She can sort out some of the details for us before we get there." Before we get home. Before we leave this awful place. Icarus side-nodded in agreement and handed the phone to Pythagoras.

"Wait, no, I can't talk to her!" Py said, raising his hands away from the phone in the way one does when something is infected.

"Well, I can't. I'm driving."

"But I'm no good on the phone! I wouldn't know what to say-"

"It's ringing!"

"Hercules, talk to her!" Pythagoras grabbed the phone from Icarus and tossed it to his lounging companion who somehow managed to catch it in time to hear a pleasant "Hello," from the other end.

"Hello!" Hercules said back before covering the phone to mouth: "What am I supposed to say!?"

"Just say you're a friend of mine!" Icarus told him. "Tell her what happened here and what we'd like her to do when we get back." Icarus gave Pythagoras the universal 'this isn't difficult' look before returning his vision to the road.

"Hello?" The woman on the other end asked politely.

"Hello there. This is Professor Hercules. I'm a friend of Icarus's."

"A friend of- Oh, okay. I'm Sergeant Major Medusa. Something I can help you with?"

"Medusa? Really, that's a beautiful name. One of my personal favourite names, as a matter a fact!"

"Hercules!" Pythagoras spun around in his chair to watch Hercules sit up a little in order to achieve maximum flirtation mode, apparently. Hercules waved a hand to shush Pythagoras as he continued piling on the pleasantries. Medusa seemed to either not notice, or not care, responding to his long wave of flattery with:

"Right. So, is there any particular reason you called me?" Icarus disguised his laugh as a cough while Py shot his older friend a look of scorn.

"Yes," Hercules cleared his throat as he readjusted himself for the upcoming conversation. Then for the second time that day Pythagoras heard a re-telling of the events that had past. In the short while they had been lost in the amusement of playing hot-potato with the phone and listening to Hercules embarrass himself in conversation, Pythagoras had forgotten what had happened. It felt so false when Hercules described it, so fictional. The words were that of a storybook or a cinematic experience, not a legitimate occurrence. How odd it felt to be laughing after so much had happened. Not a bad odd, really, it just made believing what was happening so much harder. Medusa wasn't silent while she listened, asking questions frequently and starting small discussions about what the island was and how it operated. Still, Py could see what Icarus meant. She was appalled by the events that had passed, but not shocked about the islands true purpose. If she didn't know everything about Jurassic Park, she at least knew enough to believe Hercules was telling the truth.

"Right now there isn't anything I can do," she said. "I believe you, but the Chief isn't. I'm gonna need proof."

"We have a flash drive with… lab work and such. Would that work?" Hercules bumbled, not really knowing what was or wasn't on the flash drive since he hadn't even looked at the file.

"That's perfect!" She shouted through the phone "That's all they need to send some of us over to investigate. They see dinosaurs there they'll send the whole army to handle it." Icarus seemed pleased to hear this, smiling over at Pythagoras.

"See. Everything's gonna be fine." He said as his hand reached out to Pythagoras's face. Icarus's hand ran from Py's cheek to his hair, resting at the base of his neck. His touch was familiar now, and comfortable. Was he this affectionate with everyone? Pythagoras hoped not as he allowed himself to relax against the slightly calloused hand that was running its fingers through his hair.

They stayed like this for a while, Icarus and Pythagoras. Icarus moved his hand sometimes, from Py's neck to his shoulder to his hair, everything feeling sensitive to the touch. Hercules might have noticed if he wasn't deep in conversation with Medusa, casually trying to change the subject from the island to his admirable qualities and family lineage. But Hercules didn't notice, and Pythagoras didn't tell Icarus to stop, so everything remained the same.

Pythagoras was lost in emotions and sensations and thought when he felt a rumble beneath the ground. He ignored it at first, but it happened again. And again. And again, getting louder and closer each time until Pythagoras was finally able to recognize it for what it was.

"Pull over!" The engine screamed to a halt with Pythagoras's words. Py jumped out of the car and told everyone to do the same. Ariadne and Jason followed suit, the ground trembling with each step the tyrannosaurus took towards them.

"It's the sound! She can hear us. It's the noise from vehicals! We have to be quiet, and stay still! Just hide!" Pythagoras shouted in as small a voice as he could as the group rushed for the trees that were their only option for shelter where they were. The group of five spread out, each finding a different place to hide, staying silent and still. Somewhere in this mess Pythagoras spent so much time making sure everyone else was safe that he momentarily forgot about himself. It was the moment he thought he should find a spot that the tyrannosaurus came into view, towering over the trees.

Before anything could happen a hand reached out and grabbed Pythagoras, dragging his back up against a warm body, pressing a mouth to his ear whispering:

"Do not move." Icarus held Pythagoras as close to himself as possible, leaning against the tree he had previously been hiding behind, his hands wrapped around the paleontologist's waist tight enough to hold him up if Py were to lift his feet. The dinosaur noticed the slight movement by Icarus, but couldn't seem to place what it was that moved. Her head lowered until it her eyes were at the same level as Pythagoras's. A shiver ran up the paleontologist and Icarus just held him tighter, placing one hand across Pythagoras's body to rest on the opposite shoulder, and one over Py's lungs in an attempt to remind him to keep his breathing quiet. Py got the message, but didn't stop hyperventilating as the t-rex turned her gaze to directly face himself and Icarus.

She moved closer, straining her neck to get as close as possible to whatever was in front of the tree. A scream built at the base of Pythagoras's throat but he kept it down while the man holding him kept him from running or moving in general. The dinosaur got even closer, her breathe blowing deeply onto Pythagoras, her teeth, blood stained and dripping, inches from his face. He could have reached out and touched any part of her mouth.

A low growl came out of the t-rex as she parted her teeth slightly, coming closer. Pythagoras shut his eyes as tight as possible, slowly turning his head to the left so it rested on Icarus's shoulder. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, he couldn't move, he could only stand and hope and hope and hope. Hot tears rushed down his face while he could feel, even without looking, that the dinosaur was opening her jaw further. Icarus's heartbeat was pounding into Pythagoras's back, thumping through his shirt.

Teeth skimmed Pythagoras's shirt, traveling in opposite directions as the jaw widened and hot breath engulfed both men. In the moment, just as he felt teeth preparing to clamp down on him, Py let out a small weak whimper. In that same moment, something else across the forest made a noise as well. Bushes somewhere far off rustled, like something was moving.

Pythagoras let his eyes open as the heat around his body disappeared and the low growl of breath ceased in his ears. The game warden was still holding him tight as the tyrannosaurus lifted her head to face the direction of the disturbance. She casually extended herself to her normal height, avoiding branches and leaves as her head swayed to locate what was moving in the distance. A pounding shook the trees as she stormed off, deeper into the wood and down a sloping hill until she was completely out of sight.

It wasn't until Icarus turned him around that Pythagoras could feel how badly he was shaking. It was a million tremors running through him as Icarus pulled him closer again, this time for comfort rather than protection.

"You're fine. Look at you, you're fine." A hand ran through Py's hair while lips touched his forehead.

"Icarus," Pythagoras said softly. Icarus leaned down so their foreheads touched.

"Yes?"

"I think…" he paused. "Maybe this is all just a little bit bigger than I am." Icarus let out a long breath.

"Where's the man who snuck into my Jeep to spy?" Icarus whispered. "Where's the man who came to an island to prove they were more than just a museum worker? Where's the man who just wanted to be useful?" In the end Pythagoras supposed he had wanted this. He wanted a chance to prove himself; he wanted a moment, just one moment, where he could be more than what he was. Maybe he'd wanted Jurassic Park. Maybe more than any of them had. He came because he wanted to come. He wanted to come because he could. But just because you can doesn't mean you should.

"I was on a cliff," Pythagoras answered. "And I threw myself off because I didn't know any better, and I thought I did." Icarus smiled something small and thought of the night before. He thought of hushed conversations about morality. He thought of could's, and should's, and perfect numbers. He thought of being selfish and feeling better.

"But was it worth it?" Icarus pressed his nose against Pythagoras, and Pythagoras pressed back.

"Well, I haven't hit the bottom yet," he replied, breathing deeper as Icarus got closer and closer. "I think I'm stuck falling." There was one last peculiar pause that steadied the air while the two just stood and pressed and processed. One more breath was taken, and the gap was closed.

Icarus's hand raked through Pythagoras's hair in order to pull the paleontologist's mouth to his, but he needn't have as Pythagoras leaned in of his own accord. Pythagoras sucked in a deep breath when his lips touched Icarus's, moving his hands from where they were to the side of Icarus's face. The only thing that mattered in the entire universe to the two of them was getting as close as possible to one another. They came apart and reconnected twice before their lips locked entirely, pulling each other's body slightly closer each time until there wasn't any space left at all. Pythagoras's hands remained comfortably on either side of Icarus's face while the game wardens hands had taken separate routes, one firm on the small of Pythagoras's back, the other still tangled in a mess of blond hair.

There was heat spreading in Pythagoras's lower back and stomach as he was shifted in order to be pressed up against the tree. It got warmer as Icarus's hands moved places, both leaving their positions to rest firm of Pythagoras's hips, his legs now spread just slightly wider for the pressure and Icarus finding new space to invade and get closer with to the point where Pythagoras just couldn't breath and-

"Pythagoras!" There was a shout from somewhere and the two broke the kiss, searching for the source of the interruption. "Icarus!" Another shout from the same direction. Whoever was shouting couldn't be seen from where they were standing, which meant more importantly that the person shouting couldn't see the two of them. Icarus's lungs couldn't get quite enough air, but breathing heavy was going to be expected anyways, so he shouted back.

"We're over here! Is everyone alright?" The other's seemed to have figured out that the T-Rex had smashed off elsewhere and were re-emerging from their chosen hiding places. All were, thankfully, out of eyesight, and earshot, of Icarus and Pythagoras.

"No. I've been crouching in a bush for several minutes. My back certainly isn't going to like this!" Hercules complained as he stumbled up to the pair, aggressively rubbing his spine. Jason and Ariadne followed shortly afterwards, all hands offering to help one another and giggling quietly when the other tripped.

"Well, that's everyone accounted for." Jason said when everyone had met up. "Why did she leave though?" Icarus and Pythagoras proceeded with a brief, detail-spared, account of what had occurred, emphasizing the noise that drew the tyrannosaurus away.

"A rustling?" Ariadne asked. "But were not in an area with other dinosaurs right now. Other than the raptors that are loose, but she wouldn't go after the raptors for making a noise if she knew they were here. The only thing that could make that noise is-"

"A person," Pythagoras cut her off. "Someone else is alive on this island."


	6. Echo In Eternity

Pythagoras rushed through a series of scenarios that could play out in accordance with this new information. They could go searching for this person, find them, and assist them off the island. They could get themselves to the landing zone and wait, hoping this person knew well enough to come to the planes and helicopters as well. Potentially, however, they could just leave the island and forget about whoever was also here. The others seemed to be contemplating the same ideas.

"Well," Jason spoke first. "We have to find them. They need our help."

"But what if they're also headed to the planes. We could wait there for a while and see if they show up?" Ariadne suggested.

"No," Hercules interrupted. "I am not waiting to get of the island of man-eating monsters because some pansy might be wandering around. We leave when we get there, and they have to tough it for themselves."

"We can't just leave them here!" It was Icarus this time, clearly on Jason's side of this ordeal. "I'm not flying that helicopter out of here if I know there's someone getting left behind."

"But there could be plenty of people on the island that we just missed," Pythagoras said, processing all of his friends comments first before speaking. "We can't be responsible for everyone else's life here; we can only be responsible for our own. If there were others they had plenty of chances to make it to an area near the welcome center where we could have found them. Instead they seem to be wandering around in the forest. That's not a good sign! If there are others at the landing zone we can take them with us, but we can't go looking for this person."

Icarus wasn't pleased, and Pythagoras knew it. Perhaps it was the partiality of guilt that him and Ariadne shared in the responsibility for this catastrophe which made them more apt to salvage as much life as possible. But where Icarus thought about a response for a minute Jason jumped right back into the conversation.

"What? Just leave them here? How can you say that? We have to at least try and find whoever's out there-" Jason stopped abruptly and raised a hand, calling for silence. Pythagoras listened for whatever his friend had heard. First there was nothing, then a slight rustling sound that sounded like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere in particular.

"No one move." Icarus warned.

"It could be a person…" Hercules suggested at a volume he must have thought was a whisper. Ariadne tossed her head to and fro, obviously searching for a sign suggesting whether it was a human form or dinosaur.

"Are we sure we want to wait and find out?" Pythagoras said before there was a high pitched screech. Flight instinct kicked in for everyone as the bolted in the opposite direction of the noise that was clearly not human. "We need to get to the landing pad!" Pythagoras shouted and this time no one objected. Jason lead the group, as the fasted runner, but Icarus and Ariadne were not far behind with Hercules picking up speed, apparently faster than he seemed. Pythagoras, however, had fallen behind; His wounds still weren't healed and he could feel more blood coming out of his chest that faster he tried to run. He was left with a choice between slowing down and potentially getting eaten or continuing to run and potentially bleeding to death. Neither scenario was appealing, but the decision looked like it was going to be made for him as he stumbled over a root jutting out of the ground and fell to the floor.

It had been scary, certainly, when Pythagoras had been attacked by the raptors, but at those times he had been filled with adrenaline and ability and had been too preoccupied with fighting back to notice the fear. In a strange way there was something significantly more frightening about lying helpless on the floor waiting for the raptor to come. He wanted to move, but everything hurt. His skin, his bones, his soul too, odd enough. Perhaps, he thought, this was one of those dreams where you have to die in order to wake up? Maybe a kick from falling just wasn't enough. Maybe the raptor would come, take a bite, and Pythagoras would wake up in his own bed. Wake up and go to the museum and work his shift telling school children how fascinating million-year-old bones are and never go on a dig for the rest of his life. Was that really what he wanted? Two days ago he would have said no; was his answer still the same? Everything was as much a jumble in his head as it was on the leaf and dirt covered ground.

If he was home he never would have met Icarus. For once someone had taken him seriously; someone had listened, and better yet wanted to listen; someone wanted him more than he needed him, and there was something beautiful about that differentiation. He was better than anything Pythagoras could have dreamed up.

Except this isn't a dream, Pythagoras told himself. This is real and Icarus is real and his feelings for you are real and the dinosaur headed towards you is real and… I am about to die alone. He was crying again as he tried to raise himself from the ground, but his hands were jammed under his body. The slightest raise of his stomach revealed a pool of blood underneath and the paleontologist ended up right back down again. The sound of the raptor was getting closer and closer while the footsteps of his friends were getting further and further away and he was sobbing as the managed to release a hand from out of underneath himself. Pythagoras dug his nails into the soft dirt in an attempt to drag his body forward which was unsuccessful given the delicate texture of the ground.

Something was hovering over him. Pythagoras could feel its shadow cover his body, only the approach wasn't from the direction Py had imagined the raptor would be coming from. Then he felt something soft on both arms. Hands. They were hands.

"Pythagoras? Pythagoras!" Icarus was out of breath and drenched in sweat as he flipped Pythagoras over. The bandages he had wrapped the paleontologist in before were soaked through with blood. "Why didn't you say you were still bleeding?" He asked as he tore of his jacket to quickly wrap it around the wounds. Then he leaned forward and kissed Pythagoras with such force it almost hurt. Then he kissed his cheek. Then his neck. "We're so close Pythagoras. Just a little further. Just make it a little further. Please, please, please." Icarus was whispering into Py's neck as he struggled to get both of them to their feet.

"I really can't Icarus. I really, really can't." Pythagoras cried through clenched teeth and he sank back to the floor. "Just go, it's alright just go." But Icarus didn't move. Instead he sat down next to the other man and pulled him close. Pythagoras breathed hard into the Game Warden's shoulder, out of pain and fear.

"You have to go Icarus."

"I'm not leaving without you. It's you go or I die with you."

"That's not fair!" Pythagoras shouted as he pulled himself slightly aback from Icarus. "You can't manipulate me like that!"

"I can manipulate you any way I want if it's what's going to keep you alive." A raptor shriek was heard from not too far behind them. "If you're getting eaten by raptors so am I. I am only leaving if you're coming with me!"

So that was it then. Stay and condemn Icarus to death or struggle towards the helicopter, a journey which he felt he had a good chance to die on anyway given the state of him. But there was Icarus to be concerned with. Whose happiness came first? His own, or Icarus's?

"I don't want you to die." Pythagoras whispered so low he thought perhaps only he heard himself say it.

"Don't you think I know that?" He whispered back before planting a soft kiss on Pythagoras's temple. He did know, didn't he? Pythagoras was putting Icarus in the same position as him. Pythagoras couldn't let Icarus die, but Icarus wouldn't allow the same to Pythagoras. Was it paining Icarus to see him like this? Pythagoras wondered if he would do the same for the Game Warden had their places been reversed. Yes, he thought, he might die for him if it came to it. But he would rather live for him. Was that not the distinction between infatuation and love?

"Does love always cause suffering?" Pythagoras asked aloud before he had time to think not to. Icarus cocked his head to the side and studied the man next to him, breathing in deep and slow. Then a smile.

"Yes." Icarus finally replied, his voice somewhere between joy and the serene. He knew Pythagoras had made a choice. "But suffering is good for the soul."

"The soul…" Pythagoras murmured, as he attempted to stand up. He lurched forward, getting a head rush as his blood tried to redistribute itself. "I had a theory about souls."

"You'll have to tell me it sometime." Icarus said hurriedly as he caught the paleontologist and stood him upright.

"Am I standing?" Pythagoras asked, not entirely sure at the moment. The jacket helped around his stomach helped, the tightness stopping at least some of the blood from flowing out.

"Yes. Can you walk?"

"I can try."

"Okay, but we're gonna run."

"What?"

"We're gonna run on my count." Icarus was supporting Pythagoras with his hand wrapped around his waist and Pythagoras's draped across Icarus's shoulders. "Are you ready?"

"No." The thought of running was making him ill.

"Here we go. Ready, and-" a raptor suddenly rushed through the trees behind them. "Now!" Icarus was a lot faster than Pythagoras but the raptor was faster than both of them combined. Running was far more painful than lying on the floor and he wanted to stop, but that wasn't an option anymore. The two ran zig-zag, trying to slow down the raptor, and it worked a little, but not enough to keep the dinosaur from catching up. She was screeching, probably telling her fellow remaining raptors where they were. Pythagoras felt guilt creep up into his stomach. He should have kept trying to get up. He and Icarus were going to die just as Py had decided to try and continue living. It wasn't fair, but then none of this was in the grand scheme of things.

The raptor had almost gotten within reaching distance of the two men when a voice shouted "Duck!" which Pythagoras and Icarus were all too happy to comply with before gunfire riddled the soundwaves. Looking up Pythagoras saw Jason, Hercules and Ariadne armed and loader, each firing the guns they had taken with them at the velociraptor. With one gun, back at the Welcome Center it had been a challenge to kill the dinosaur, but with three people firing the raptor went down in a few seconds.

"She alerted the others where we are already!" Icarus warned the others as he helped lift Pythagoras. Jason ignored that, however, and rushed to look at Pythagoras.

"Are you gonna be alright?" He asked, looking at all the bloodstains all over Pythagoras's front.

"Yeah. Why'd you stop running? You could've been at the landing pad by now!" Py said.

"What, and leave you behind?" Jason said in the way the movie stars do when they think someone is being ridiculous. "Not a chance!"

"Yeah," Hercules added. "If you go, who's going to cover up all my accident reports at the museum? Hmm? Bet you didn't think about that, did you? You young people today, only thinking of yourself!" Then for the first time in quite a while Pythagoras smiled. Not the smile that comes from a friend saying something absurd or from hearing a joke, but the kind that was born of the pure joy of friendship. What a wonderful thing it is, Pythagoras thought, to have friends like mine.

Ariadne rolled her eyes at Hercules while checking the ammo in her gun. From the looks of it no one had very much left, and of course no one had though to bring extra. "We have to keep moving. But if you ever need us to stop," Ariadne said to Pythagoras, "You just tell us, and we'll hold." Pythagoras might have thanked her but a noise from nearby drew everyone's attention.

"Ariadne!" A woman's voice screamed from the path ahead. "Icarus! What are you doing!" From behind bushes and trees came a disheveled and battered Pasiphae. "Did you just kill my dinosaur?"

"You're alive?" Icarus said, ignoring all her previous statements.

"Didn't you hear me? Why are you killing my velociraptors?" She shouted, also ignoring what the other person had said.

"Why are you putting t-rex DNA in them is a better question." Pythagoras jumped in, forcing Icarus to stumble with him over to Pasiphae.

"What? How do you- What does it matter? They're still mine! I'll sue you all for slaughtering endangered animals!"

"Endangered?" Jason scoffed. "Don't you mean extinct? And we didn't kill them without cause! You're raptor-sauruses all escaped, along with the T-Rex and tried to kill us! People have died Pasiphae because of these hybrids! It's within our right!"

"Fine then!" She said. "I can make more before the park opens!"

"The park opens?" Pythagoras repeated softly. "Ms. Pasiphae, this park has to be shut down. These creatures are dangerous, and need to be handled with professionally. We've already contacted the military. Pasiphae, I know this was important to you but we all need to get off this island. Icarus say's he can pilot a helicopter and we can-"

"You what? The military would never believe you!"

"Well, the Sergeant General did. We just need to get her the lab files and then they'll deal with it from there."

"Lab files? Ariadne!" Pasiphae screamed abuse at her step-daughter while Pythagoras studied the head of the park. Perhaps something had snapped in her mind when she saw all her workers die at the electric fence. But then, she had never acted rational to begin with. Refusing to listen to criticism when Pythagoras suggested it, arguing with the Game Warden when he requested lethal weapons, sending her people through the tyrannosaurus fence, all of these were not the decisions of a clear-headed person. Whatever Pasiphae was, sane could no longer be counted as one of the possible options.

"-like my own daughter and this is the thanks I get! My life was spent on this park and-"

"Ms. Pasiphae!" Pythagoras cut her off. "You can stay on the island if you want, see if you can fix whatever's wrong here, but we need to leave."

"So you can send to troops to destroy my vision! I don't think so!" Suddenly she had a hand-gun in her hand directed at the paleontologist. The contrast of her potentially killing him versus and dinosaur, to Pythagoras, was interesting. You live with monsters too long and maybe you become one of them. But those monsters were created in her vision, so which had learned from which?

"Pasiphae! Drop it!" Icarus's voice came from the deep back of his throat as the other three present raised their own weapons. "He's right! Be rational!" There was that cliff again; The can versus should. But Pasiphae had landed from her fall and broken her mind on the way down.

"Stay, or you die!"

"Stay and we'll die you me! There is no choice!" Pythagoras said, more frightened of her than any of the dinosaurs she had cooked up. Pasiphae aimed at Pythagoras, stepped forward one step, and nearly squeezed the trigger down when a grotesque slicing sound emitted from her stomach. Between her ribs there suddenly appeared one long claw that pressed in then slid down, tearing through her body. Blood gurgled out of her mouth as Pasiphae sank to the floor in a heap of bodily fluid. The raptor that killed her from behind seemed unconcerned with the other five people present and began tearing bits of Pasiphae off to eat. Silence from all parties seemed to be key as Jason was the first to start tip-toeing away from the seen, Ariadne's hand clasped in his as she followed suite. Icarus, Pythagoras and Hercules sneaked the other way around the raptor, who had conveniently placed herself between the group and the landing pad. They had just about made it past when Hercules stumbled over the raptor's tail.

"Run!" Jason shouted, though no one needed telling as the bolted away from the dinosaur. The velociraptor shrieked and a thudding filled the forest. The tyrannosaurus was here. Pasiphae had been what she'd heard rustling when she'd had Icarus and Pythagoras pinned to the tree. It had saved their lives then, but it looked like that luck was going to get them killed now.

"Look! The landing pad!" Icarus shouted as they all came to a clearing. There were three helicopters and one plane sitting in on the pad. The plane they had come in. Pythagoras remembered the flight over and the arrival, shuffling papers and worrying about himself and laughing at Hercules like it was an eon ago, not the other day. He thought of the initial tour and how exciting it had been to see the Charonosaurus's. He thought about that evening in the room with Icarus where they talked of nothing and everything, of cliffs and courage.

It was worth it, he agreed. All he had lost was worth what he had gotten in return. Well, worth it if they actually made it to the helicopter and got out alive.

"Get in the closest one!" Icarus ordered as the pounded got closer and the tyrannosaurus came into view. "Hurry!" He shouted, even though he and Pythagoras were trailing the group. Maybe he was saying it to himself and had forgotten how to do anything but shout an order, no matter who it was for. The two surviving raptors had arrived as well. Pythagoras could hear their claws tapping on the hard, concrete ground of the pad.

Hercules, Ariadne and Jason were packed into the Helicopter, leaving the front seats for Icarus and Pythagoras who all but leapt into the aircraft. Seatbelts were deemed unnecessary at present as the Game Warden bean jamming buttons on the dashboard. The helicopters propellers began to spin, slow at first, but they were gaining speed.

"Hurry up!" Hercules demanded impatiently.

"It can take between thirty seconds and two minutes for this thing to get off the ground! I'm doing the best I can!" Icarus shouted back over the drone of the propellers which were rapidly spinning faster. Not fast enough, apparently, because that moment that raptor that had eaten Pasiphae made it to the helicopter and was attempting to jump in through the back-seat door.

"Do you trust me?" Ariadne screamed at Jason as the raptor continued to smash the window she was sitting next to. Jason almost said something then grabbed Ariadne by the back of the head and pulled her mouth to his. The kiss lasted only a few seconds, just long enough for an eye-roll from Hercules.

"Alright then." She said when they finally broke apart, apparently taking his response as a hardy yes. "Just do what I say!" Then she pressed herself up against the door. "On my count we're going to open the door!"

"What?" Hercules tried to chime in but was cut off by Jason's: "Got it!" He seemed to understand what she was planning. There was a countdown, then, on three, Jason and Ariadne opened the door as hard as they could. The door slammed the raptor, surprising it enough to thrust it back, but not hard enough to injure it too badly. She would have been fine had helicopter doors not open at an upward angle. The door hit her and sent her flying back, as well as up; right into the speeding propellers. A sickening chopping sound came from the raptor as her head was lobbed clean off. Blood spattered Ariadne and Jason just as they re-shut and sealed the door. Outside the remaining raptor, its t-rex blood spinning through is veins, forgot about the metal box holding the humans and bent down to consume her headless raptor sister.

The t-rex, however, seemed to not have noticed the accident with the propellers and continued towards the helicopter. The helicopter had just taken off from the ground when the tyrannosaurus made it within reaching distance.

"She's gonna pull us down!" Hercules shouted, but nothing happened. There was a lot of screaming from the t-rex, and her head smashed into the helicopter a few times, but she wasn't pulling them down. Looking out the window everyone saw the problem. If her body had been proportionate she might have been within reaching distance, but despite her giant size the t-rex's arms were simply not long enough to reach.

Hercules was in hysterics, clutching his stomach from laughing too hard. "Big body, teeny-tiny arms!" He boomed as he drove himself into another round of laughter, the helicopter floating higher and higher until it was too high for even the tyrannosaurus's head to reach. Jason and Ariadne were laughing as well, still watching the t-rex from their window as it tried to swat at the out-of-reach aircraft. Somehow Jason had slid his hand around the Ariadne's waist while she managed to get herself comfortable against his shoulder, their faces high with colour from the heat, running, and laughter.

Icarus was chuckling to himself while Pythagoras stared out the window at the disappearing island. At the large gates and giant signs with words that he now understood, even if he couldn't read them from here. From up here the island looked the same as it had when he'd arrived, and yet, altogether different as well. Knowing what was there made it look different, even if nothing about the appearance had actually changed.

"Pythagoras? How you holding up?" Icarus asked, taking a quick glance at the paleontologist.

"Alright." He answered, though it wasn't true. In honesty he didn't know how he felt.

"Well, try to stay awake, okay?"

"Stay awake?" Py asked before looking down at his wounds. The blood on his shirt looked like it was drying out, which was a pretty good sign that he wasn't actively bleeding anymore, but he had still lost a great deal of blood.

"Well, go on then. Let's hear your theory about souls."

"Sorry?"

"You had a theory. I said you'd have to tell me sometime. Go on." Icarus said lightly, clearly imagining if he kept Pythagoras talking there was less a chance of him sleeping. Or maybe he was actually interest, but Pythagoras no longer had the energy for philosophical maybes.

"When I was a younger I used to believe there were three kinds of souls, not just one."

"And what were these three?"

"There's was the ethereal, which exists when we live in bliss with the stars, the luminous, which is punished for our sins after death, and the terrestrial, which simply resides on the earth." Pythagoras spoke slowly, dragging out his words so they would sound larger than life.

"So are we?"

"Are we what?"

"Of terrestrial souls?"

"I use to believe so; that we are simply vessels in this lifetime until the next, meant to live and die and do something or other in the middle, but maybe the parameters I set up between souls are not boundaries, but limitations. Maybe there is a balance between life, punishment and bliss."

"Hmm," was Icarus's response.

"I'm sorry. I babble on unless someone stops me-"

"You say the most beautiful things," Icarus interrupted. "And I love hearing your voice, no matter what you're saying." Pythagoras felt warm all over.

They talked like this on their journey, of souls and fate and death. Medusa was radioed along the way, Hercules insisting on handling the conversation, which went about as well as it could with Hercules on the line. Still, she agreed to meet the five of them at the nearest landing site in a few days' time, along with several other high ranking officials to check the information on the flash drive.

Pythagoras stayed awake until the end of the radio conversation, where he fell asleep, much to the dismay of Icarus who was preoccupied with flying the helicopter and couldn't try to reawaken the other man. The next thing Pythagoras saw was a white ceiling with poorly sealed tiles.

"You're awake." Pythagoras heard Icarus's voice to his right. He tilted his head to see him better. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Pythagoras said. "I fell asleep." Icarus nodded and smiled, then leaned in to press a delicate, sideways kiss on Pythagoras's lips.

"Where is everyone else?" was the next question the paleontologist asked, having deduced that he must be in a hospital given his condition and surroundings, all of which were sterile medical equipment.

"They're at a hotel down the road. Sergeant Major Medusa said she should be here in a few hours. Jason's been to visit quite a few times. Same for everyone else."

"And you?"

"They set up a cot for me last night so I could stay here with you."

"With me," Pythagoras said, pleasantly.

"With you," Icarus repeated, grinning wider.

"Do you think you can get me out of here in time to greet Medusa?" Pythagoras was rather keen to give all his findings to her, and he would rather be there to act as a barrier between her and Hercules, since Jason found it his business to stay out of Hercules's 'affairs of the heart', as it were.

"Do you mean sneak you out, or actually sign you out properly?"

"Sign me out." He said, exasperated. "Haven't you had enough adventure?"

"Have you?" Icarus replied in a manner which seemed to suggest that he expected the exact opposite. Pythagoras smiled politely, and his answer was agreed upon. No, they had not had enough adventure. There was a melancholy to their lives, at the present that was a mixture of aching gratitude at surviving their ordeal and blistering anxiety over the fact that the whole matter was in fact over. It felt like the world had changed very dramatically, but Pythagoras supposed that nothing had really changed. More, it was he and the others who survived Jurassic Park who were different. He wondered if that's what all adventurers' say.

Icarus and Pythagoras left the hospital in the early afternoon and walked, hand in hand, to where they were to meet Medusa.

"I very much love you, Icarus," Pythagoras said along the way. He was not sure it was entirely the right thing to say, but the words had bubbled up from his throat and he made no attempts to stop them. Icarus paused and turned to look at Pythagoras in earnest.

"You really do say the most wonderful things." And he kissed Pythagoras in the middle of the sidewalk for rather a long while. A couple cars honked at them as they passed, and Icarus laughed against Pythagoras's lips. "They're all jealous that I got to you first." His hand trailed up from Pythagoras's hip to under his shirt and, very gently, Icarus traced a portion of Pythagoras's new scars. The sensation was interesting, but Py found he liked it.

"What are you going to tell people, when they ask you about those scars?" Icarus asked when they had separated and returned to their walking, their lips chapped and cheeks flushed.

"I'll tell them the truth. I'll tell them what happened at Jurassic Park."

There was a mutual understanding, a brief pause for a laugh, and Pythagoras shifted himself close enough to rest his head on Icarus's shoulder as they approached the large group of formally-dressed business men and women who were standing outside the hotel, waiting to hear their story.


End file.
